Isaac Straley

Isaac Straley

Cybersecurity, privacy, and responsible AI strategist.

I'm the Chief Information Security Officer at the J. Paul Getty Trust, where I lead the cybersecurity program along with the Trust's identity and AI strategy.

I work on human-centered security: when people keep making the wrong call, that's a design problem, not a people problem.

Invite me to speak or facilitate
4
CISO roles
3
inaugural appointments
20+
years in cybersecurity and privacy leadership

Before Getty, I was CISO and Associate Vice President for Information Security at the University of Washington. Earlier, I was the first-ever CISO at the University of Toronto, where I also served as Deputy CIO and helped launch CanSSOC, Canada's first shared security operations centre for higher education. Before that, I spent thirteen years at the University of California, Irvine as Information Security Officer and Campus Privacy Officer, where I chaired the UC systemwide CISO group on two separate occasions.

I've also served on Ontario's Broader Public Sector Cyber Security Expert Panel, sat on the REN-ISAC steering committee, and taught Philosophy of Privacy at UC Irvine. In 2009 I co-led a multi-state identity theft investigation recognized by the International Association of Chiefs of Police, and in 2021 I was named CISO of the Year by CISO Forum Canada.

I bring direct board and executive-reporting experience across four institutions. Through Meridian Forge, I also advise boards and organizations on security strategy, AI governance, and building programs from zero.

02

Initiatives

  • 2023 · U of T Information Security Strategy

    A four-year security strategy for a $3.2B institution with 120,000 users, led as CISO and built through tri-campus consultation before approval by the Governing Council.

  • 2018–2023 · CanSSOC

    The Canadian Shared Security Operations Centre, the first shared SOC for Canadian higher education, built with a coalition of universities to pool threat intelligence, expertise, and cost. Founding CISO, later Acting Director; now operating nationally under CANARIE.

  • 2020–2022 · Ontario Broader Public Sector Cyber Security Expert Panel

    A ten-person panel convened under Ontario's Cyber Security Strategy to assess cyber risk across the province's hospitals, school boards, municipalities, universities, and colleges. A member from its formation in 2020 until the panel's report to the Minister was published in 2022.

  • 2021 · Global Cyber Threat Sharing MoU

    An international threat intelligence sharing agreement between the national research and education networks of Canada, the UK, the US, and Australia (CanSSOC, Jisc, AARNet, OmniSOC, and REN-ISAC), built on MISP so partners warn each other of attacks in real time. CanSSOC led its creation; a 2026 renewal added New Zealand's REANNZ, bringing it to five countries.

  • 2018 · UC Electronic Information Security Policy, IS-3

    A ground-up rewrite of information security policy for the entire University of California system (ten campuses, five medical centers, three national laboratories), as chair of the systemwide IT Policy and Security committee and a contributing author. Signed in 2018 and still the governing policy today.

03

Speaking

Talks and presentations

Interviews and podcasts

04

Writing

05

Service

Recognition

Committees and boards

  • 2024 · Co-Chair, Information Security and Privacy Board, University of Washington
  • 2023 · Steering Committee, REN-ISAC
  • 2020–2022 · Member, Broader Public Sector Cyber Security Expert Panel, Government of Ontario
  • 2020 · Cybersecurity Advisory Committee, CANARIE
  • 2020 · Cybersecurity Steering and Advisory Council, Compute Canada Federation
  • 2020 · Steering Committee, Ontario Cybersecurity Higher Education Consortium
  • Chair, University of California IT Policy and Security Committee (ITPS), University of California

    Served on the committee throughout my time at UC Irvine; chaired it on two separate occasions. Also: Member, UC Security Incident Response Committee. IT Policy Coordinator for UC Irvine.

Teaching

  • Philosophy of Privacy, University of California, Irvine